Plucky poultry company trims seasoning weight waste
When one of the leading British chicken , turkey and duck suppliers discovered it was wasting over half of the dry seasonings manually scattered on its oven-ready birds , it needed an automated solution fast . In stepped Sparc Systems , introducing the poultry company to Hera , the checkweighing specialist ’ s flagship loss-in-weight depositer .
Perfectly seasoning more than 250,000 poultry birds a week - 50 a minute - the supermarket and restaurant supplier now maintains a consistent and even one-gram herb and spice dispensing rate . Starting with just one Hera system in 2018 , the company was so impressed by the presentation improvements and waste reductions , it has since introduced three more machines . Including several on its ready meal production lines dispensing individually quick frozen ( IQF ) 4 FDPP - www . fdpp . co . uk vegetables , herbs and grated cheese into dishes .
Providing layers of taste and texture to a variety of products , Hera scatters and weighs dry inclusions with accuracy and precision . From a consumer perspective , Hera ensures the best products , featuring exciting flavours and textures , are consistently presented to shoppers and restaurateurs .
Guaranteed to deliver an accurate spread , as each conveyorised product passes in front of the Hera sensor , the depositor feeder tray vibrates gently scattering the dry ingredients , for instance parsley or peri-peri spices , along the entire width of the product . Rather than a continuous stream , the dispensing slows and stops until a new product tray passes in front of the Hera sensor . This prevents high waste levels and addresses the issue of powder accumulating in and around the machinery and conveyor system .
Engineering manager at the Northamptonshire production site comments : “ We ’ ve seen some really good consistency in our product delivery , especially really even sprinkle coverage across each bird .”
Optimal waste management
This controlled dispensing is very important , as Sparc ’ s European Sales Manager Charlie Graham explains : “ We have regularly observed that sieving inclusions onto products manually or even the waterfall technique results in the majority ending up on the floor or conveyor . It ’ s especially prevalent with fine powders like spices and dried herbs , which also becomes a health & safety issue for co-workers . Naturally , this wasted product cannot be reworked due to cross contamination and hygiene practices .”